Friday 09/21 A.M. Quickie:Pats Tapes Destroyed, NFL/CFB Picks, More!

Lead Item: Pats cheating scandal takes a weird turn: Without a shred of transparency, the NFL has destroyed all the tapes that the Pats turned over to them, simply saying, "Didn't see anything."

I think this will flare into the Big Story today, because "destroying evidence" (particularly without letting anyone else see it) is something we all can conceptualize -- and it doesn't speak to clearing things up.

On the contrary, it instantly implies HIDING things.

We are forced to trust the NFL on their decision-making, but I think you're crazy if you do. It's in the NFL's best interests to lock down on anything... bigger... that they might have found on those tapes. But we'll never know, because the tapes are destroyed and the NFL controls the situation.

Imagine a similar scenario with David Stern or Bud Selig. The outrage would be off the Richter scale. I don't think it's crazy to suggest there would be calls for Congressional hearings.

But King NFL? Please. Won't happen. I hesitate that mainstream media will even try to investigate the increasing (and increasingly legit) claims that are popping up -- including about the Tuck Game, the most iconic of any Pats wins during the dynasty.

Just look at the crackerjack way that mainstream media has taken on the NFL's PED epidemic. Again, if they worked fractionally as hard as they have on MLB's PED scandal, they'd find... that the NFL is SO much worse.

It's not like that would cripple the sport; everyone already assumes that HGH or other PEDs are rampant in pro football, and it doesn't affect the league's popularity one bit.

Still, this is skeevy: Given the rumors that are circulating, it seems suspicious that the league would chirp, "Nothing to see here"... and destroy everything. Not just lock it away, but destroy it.

At the very least, it gives conspiracy theorists (in this case, some would say "realists") a parting gift to the scandal.

As usual, Florio over at PFT has the definitive take on this. (Please, please, please PFT: Can you include permalinks to individual Rumor Mill items? While you're at it, how about an RSS feed?)

McNabb and Black QBs, Cont'd: Where do you stand on Vince Young's reaction to it, which was... no reaction. Literally. "Not my fight," Young said, despite being the heir to Briscoe, Williams and – yes – McNabb.

Without their "fight" before him, Young would be preparing to line up right now at wide receiver.

I appreciate that VY was taking the road of "I'm just concentrating on the game in front of me," but that was intellectually dishonest.

Young needs to have a response; I'm sure he does, but just didn't want to say it, either because he was afraid of getting in the middle of a discussion about race in sports or because he was afraid it might dent his marketability.

CFB Tonight: Oklahoma at Tulsa. And I'm picking Tulsa! The Sooners are 22-point favorites. It could be easy enough for me to take the points, see Tulsa lose by less than 22 and claim moral victory.

But no! I look at Tulsa's crazy-ass offense (managed by prep-football genius turned college coordinator Gus Malzahn) and all I can think of is: BoiseState, who used offensive innovation to completely baffle (and beat) Oklahoma.

Now, either Bob Stoops learned his lesson before... or, even if you know it's coming, it's hard to be a BCS-league power and take the sandlot-style of non-BCS football seriously.

The game is at Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane has an unstoppable offense. Everyone assumes this has all the makings of being "Oklahoma's year."

I'm calling the shocker: Tulsa beats Oklahoma.

More CFB Top 25 Preview and Picks: Picking Tulsa over Oklahoma makes up for the fact that a combination of patsy opponents and (mostly) home games means that there will be an absurdly low number of unexpected scores this weekend. In fact, I pick all but two ranked teams to win, one by necessity:

While newly minted Top 25 team Alabama has a must-win at home against No. 22 Georgia, newly unranked Arkansas, back at home, will catch No. 21 Kentucky (coming off the win over rival Louisville) in a classic let-down game.

Everything else? Yawn: Top 25 teams jockeying for style points. (Um, nevermind the fact that I picked A&M over unranked Miami and already blew that one.)

I guess that works out better for me, given that I will be refraining from watching football during the day in observance of Yom Kippur.

(Is it wrong that I'm TiVo'ing the big games – including Florida at Ole Miss -- to watch once the sun goes down? Does that defile the spirit of deprivation and repentance the holiday demands?)

Anyway, the picks:USC (1) over Washington StLSU (2) over South Carolina (12)Florida (3) over at Ole MissTulsa over Oklahoma (4) (UPSET SPECIAL)West Virginia (5) over E. CarolinaCal (6) over ArizonaTexas (7) over RiceOhioState (8) over NorthwesternWisconsin (9) over IowaPennState (10) over at MichiganOregon (13) over at StanfordB.C. (14) over ArmyClemson (15) over NC StateAlabama (16) over Georgia (22) (GOTW)VA Tech (17) over William and MaryLouisville (18) over SyracuseHawaii (19) over Charleston SouthernArkansas over Kentucky (21) (SUPER-STUD WATCH)South Florida (23) over UNCNebraska (24) over BallStateMissouri (25) over IllinoisState

Notre Dame SuckWatch (TM): And the worst marketing idea of the year goes to... adidas and Notre Dame, which will outfit fans at the Stadium with... white towels. Because nothing says "Fight on!" like a white towel.

CFB Thursday: Miami 34, Texas A&M 17. So much for the Aggies as a darkhorse national-title contender. Meanwhile, which team is Miami: The one who clobbered A&M or the one who got clobbered by Oklahoma?

Kevin Everett Update: Between the "Belicheat" and "McNabb" memes over the last two weeks, it's amazing simply to find out that doctors think Everett can be walking in the next few weeks.

MLB Pennant Racing:

Mets Collapse, Cont'd: After a 10-inning loss last night to the Marlins (where they blew a three-run lead...twice), the Mets are now just 1.5 games ahead of the Phillies, who won.

Angels thisclose to clinching: Just need to win tonight versus Seattle to become the first team to earn a playoff spot.

(Indians close, too. And is this the weekend the Yankees catch – or pass – the Red Sox in the AL East? I know I have talked for months about the only thing mattering being making the playoffs however you can; the division title is relatively meaningless as long as you win the Wild Card. However, I now find this intriguing, even though both teams are virtual locks to make the playoffs. It would be infinitely better if it was a runner-up-is-out situation. Get on that, MLB!)

NL West: Padres win 7th straight, putting them only .5 GB the D'backs. The reason the NL East race is so insane is that the loser will likely miss the playoffs entirely, probably because of the NL West.

MLB: Ken Griffey will miss the rest of the season. September 20? You definitely won if, at the start of the season, you picked the "over."

Astros hire Ed Wade: When I first wrote this, I accidentally typed "Astros fire Ed Wade." Fast-forward anywhere between 3-8 seasons, and that's pretty much what you'll have.

PGA and PEDs: The PGA will institute PED-testing in 2008, presumably more than enough time for the dozens of players you just KNOW are using rule-bending drugs to get their system clean.

(If you think I'm crazy to suggest that many PGA players are using PEDs, YOU'RE the one who is delusional. It's like you haven't been paying attention to sports for the last decade.)

Housekeeping: Sorry to pack so much into a single post. Abbreviated day for me here. I'll try to set up a CFB Live-Comment post for Saturday's games before the end of the day, even though it'll be early.

51 comments:

Funny story about Notre Dame and white towels... 2 years ago, the Irish opened the season at Pitt. My friends and I (all Pitt fans) were tailgating in a lot near a bunch of Irish fans. My friend Ryan looked over and saw a white flag flying off a pole over top of one of the Notre Dame tailgates and immediately began heckling them mercilessly. This led to the following exchange:

Me: Ryan?Him: Can you believe these pussies? White flag!Me: I think thats a "Remember 9/11" flag.Ryan: [Hangs head in shame, ceases talking for rest of day]

I don't think that Young dodged the question. I think that he said McNabb needs to shut up or move to a position that isn't in the spotlight. Basically: People are not booing you because you are black; people are booing you because you suck right now.

Congressional hearings on the tape thing? Now you are just nuts. If the NFL wants to blow their credibility then that is fine. The PED thing is in the forefront becauase PEDs are illegal. Video taping an opponent during the game is an NFL rule.

The last time I remember UF playing Ole Miss my tv kept losing reception and I missed us losing at the end to fucking Eli Manning. How is it that as great of a qb as his brother is( I think I just threw up in my mouth a little) he couldn't beat UF yet Eli is average at best and he beat us twice in a row. Gotta love the Zooker. What blows my mind is that the USF/NCstate game is going to be broadcast locally in Chicago yet the Gator game isn't. That seems odd to me but at least I get to see if my hometown team can help the state of Florida sweep every team in the Carolina's this year The only major school I think doesn't play a team from Fl this year is east carolina.

Hypothetical question since this is the most exciting part of the sports year with football in full swing and the playoffs coming up in baseball. If you could go to any five sporting events worldwide what would they be. I was thinking the British Open at St Andrews, the World Cup, surfing's triple crown, Rangers/Celtic at Ibrox (Im not catholic and ready to meet my maker), and any of the big four championship games/series in American sports. I have been to two world cups (USA and France), seen the ning win the Stanley Cup, Seen the Bucs win the Super Bowl as well as the first Bills SB loser, and the Marlins beat the Yankees in game 5 in Miami. I was in a good debate with friends last night over it and wondered what some real sports fans would think about it.

jeez dan, can your anti boston bias ooze any thicker? first you are fluffing up the nfl "scandal" as if anyone still gave a crap just to keep bashing the pats...give it up dude and move on...next your bonehead idea of eliminating the runner up for wc team? (convenient that its the sox who would/could lose out on this) more egotistical florida bias. i know your head has swollen to the size of a fair winning pumpkin with all the gator pride crap but give the boston bashing a break. (increasingly losing my interest in your blog, in fact using it mostly as a convenient way to link to the other more interesting and less biased blogs you nicely provide)

Yeah, what a terrible idea the white TOWELS are...I mean, it's not like ND is the first team to pass out towels at home games. And that it's for the Hannah & Friends Charity. But please, don't let get logic and charity get in the way of your ND hating agenda. Go back to declaring Miami-Texas A&M as the Best. Game. Ever. or whatever else it is you normally do.

The ND white towels story is even better when you consider that ND's "The Shirt" is green this year. So....people wearing green shirts and waving white towels....basically they're having ND fans dress up in the colors of the opposition and wave a white flag. Pure genius.

Shanoff, I find your "intellectually dishonest" claim on VY slightly unfair. It's not the media or the fan's inherent right to know what an NFL player--emerging superstar, superduper star or otherwise--necessarily thinks about the comments of another player. It's his right to effectively tell the media: "get a quote elsewhere, let's talk about Sunday." Even as a black quarterback with the potential to emarge as a superduper star in the near future, I don't see how he has an obligation or responsibility to defend or contend McNabb's statement. If you think he does, to whom do you think he owes his opinion?

And also, as a Boston fan, you've got to stop harping on "legit" claims of suspicions of cheating during the Patriots dynasty. I'd like to know how public opinion makes it legit. Public opinion voted in W. twice. Give us an animated gif of evidence or move on. You know well that as soon as the Patriots bring an undefeated record against Indy, no one will remember the videotaping "scandal."

The NFL has a built in way to know if the Patriots withheld some of their evidence, which would result in a huge punishment. My take on the NFL destroying the tapes is that it guarantees there should be:

1) No copies floating around, because the Patriots were told to turn over everything.

2) No further videos floating around, because the Patriots were told to turn over everything.

I believe the NFL saw what they needed to see, proving that the videos were as advertised, then agreed to destroy them, so nobody else could get their hands on them. It's quite possible that the Patriots were so good at recording the opposing teams, the NFL didn't want to risk other teams gaining that information from the media, which would inevitably leak anything they got their hands on.

Congressional hearings for a franchise breaking a strictly organazional rule is dumb. Calling out Vince Young for not coming out with a "blacker" response is dumber. I think Vince Young can speak for Vince Young without some unemployed white dude with limited sports knowledge telling him what he should say. Where do you come off anyway?

Give Griffey a break. There's about 10 games left in the season, and the dude has a minor injury. If it was the middle of the season, he might miss two weeks. Give the guy a break. How many non-steriod users hit 30 hrs at age 37? And he is still a serviceable outfielder, with diving catches and assists from deep right field.

Some many soccer matches being picked in peoples Top 5. Most US sporting events can't compete with the Live soccer match atmosphere. That's what the MLS really needs to find a way to import if they want people to take notice.

Way to overblow the Pats video destruction. As someone else mentioned, this was a violation of a league rule, not a violation of a federal law, so suggesting a Congressional hearing is absurd. Well, it's absurd even in regard to MLB PEDs, I'd rather have my tax dollars pay for something more useful than policing athletes on the juice.

Anyway, what the league is saying is we know you cheat, everyone else cheats too, we didn't start enforcing the rules until this year, these tapes are from before this year, therefore we aren't going to punish you, but you can't have your toys back.

So the PGA instituted a PEDs detection program for next season. Does that mean the likes of Rory Sabbatini and Jon Daly get a pass because their "drug(s) of choice" are not exactly performance "enhancing"? More like "performance impeding".

I agree completely with Matt. VY's job description has nothing to do with defending or attacking another black quarterback's words or credentials or anything else. His job is to win on Sunday.

Frankly, if I'm Bud Adams or a Titans fan - and I'm neither - I'm happier than a pig in shit about his response.

As for Patriotgate (or whatever the hell we're calling it), full whatever. I don't see what the league had to gain by destroying the tapes, but I don't see what they had to lose, either. And face it: there's plenty of evidence that the attacks on 9/11 were NOT orchestrated by the government, and the conspiracy theorists are still at it. People are going to believe what they're going to believe (especially football fans, like Raiders fans who think EVERYTHING is set up by the league for them to fail), no matter what you or I or anyone else says about it.

1. Super Bowl2. Ryder Cup - Been there3. World Cup Soccer Final4. Any game 7 of the finals(NBA,NHL,MLB) - been to an NH

I've been to 3 of the listed. Honestly, the Super Bowl isn't that great. It's so stale and corporate that you kinda lose the feeling that there is even a game. The parties are fun don't get me wrong, but you completely lose fact that their is a game that all this leads up to.

My 4:

1) A big game at Cameron Indoor2) The Masters3) The Rose Bowl4) A NFL Conference Championship game

I've got to agree on the Superbowl. It sucks live -- no real fans, entirely corporate, and no commercials (which, let's face it, is about all some SB are good for).

My top 5:1. NFL Conference Championship game (preferably at Lambeau -- even though I hate the Packers)2. Final Four3. World Cup (I hate soccer, but am going to South Africa for WC 2010)4. Rugby World Cup (NZ 2011, here I come)5. World Series Game in Bleachers at Wrigley Field* (this is actually my #1, but since I don't think it will ever happen, why rank it higher?)

We had a great post a while back about best sports event we have seen in person. I won't go back to that topic, but I will recommend to anyone to add an Army vs. Navy Football Game to their list of things they want to see if it isn't there already. It's an absolutely overpowering event with great spirit, rivalry, intensity, pageantry, and comradarie all rolled into one. It's in Baltimore this year, but I would recommend going in Philly -- a city that completely embraces the game.

If your team is in the super bowl it is great. I saw the Bucs win and it was amazing. I do agree that it is way too corporate.

The triple crown of surfing is four tournaments in hawaii. Pipeline, Sunset beach, Waimea, and the Vans Hawaiian pro. They hold everyone but the Waimea tournament every year. Waimea is only when the waves are over 20 feet.

Weirdest thing is that I lived like an hour or so from Daytona for years and never made it to a race. I should put that on my list of things I need to see.

Soccer matches are by far the most intense sporting events I have been to. If the teams are good and they hate each other it is even better. I think that is why Rangers v. Celtic are always so crazy. Pretty much the winner of this wins the Scottish league most years. However if Motherwell gets to qualify for European play next season my dad and I are there.

1. Tour de France on a mountain drinking heavily with people from all over the world.2. Rugby World Cup and drinking in a bar with all the fans after the game.3. Bleachers (or anywhere) in Yankee Stadium for a World Series game - maybe this year?4. Seeing Syracuse play in a final Four in the NCAA tournament.5. Superbowl - any teams but preferably the Jets (maybe in 2035?)

Best sporting event ever for me was watching my son in middle school win the 2nd heat of a 200m race at a track meet. My little guy is a pretty good athlete and was reguarly the high scorer in his CYO league basketball, he ran 2nd fastest on the 7th grade cross country team recently out of 30 kids. My older son had a lot of developmental issues and never played sports before running track. I was just glad he was on the team. I almost lost it watching him just thinking about everything we had been through.

That is why when I saw Joba Chamberlain's Dad sitting in his wheelchair, crying in the stands when he saw his son pitch against KC this year, I thought that was the greatest sports moment of the year.

1) AS Roma vs. Inter Milan - Stadio Olympico, Roma2) 1995 Indians vs. Orioles - Ripken 2,133 (no rain outs in Baltimore, damn you O's) and the same night the Tribe clinched the division title for the first time in 45 years (I believe). The Jake was shaking.3) Super Bowl @ Rose Bowl - Cowboys vs. Bills - The Don Beebe game.4) Game 6: 1995 WS Indians vs. Braves (Just because I always wanted to see a WS game)

I have been fortunate to travel and see many events. Olympic Baseball, USC football, Wrigley Field (not top five because I haven't been to a WS game there), Fenway, HR Derby & the All Star game at the Murph in San Diego.....

Dan, it's awesome that you found that quote and had that reaction to Vince Young in the same post linking to the Rumor Mill on PFT, which still has this from yesterday:

"I really feel like myself, black or white quarterbacks, we all go through something because that is the life of a quarterback,'' Young said Wednesday, according to the Nashville Tennessean. "You have to be able to handle all the pressure and you have to be able to handle the losses and you have to be able to handle the media saying this about you.

"If you can't handle it, then you have to get off that position and go play something else."

Seems honest enough.

Also, I don't think the 'Canes are schizo at all. They got beaten up by a much deeper Oklahoma team and beat up on a Texas A&M team that has a similar talent level to Miami. The only question coming out of that game last night for me is: Who's coaching the Aggies next year? And all the positive stories about Randy Shannon remind me of all the positive stories about Larry Coker when he took over and all the positive stories about Butch davis when he took over. It's easy to like the 'Canes when they are rising. See how you feel in 3 years when they're in the midst of their next 30-game win streak.

I'll respond for Vince Young. Here's what he had to say: "You want to see QB criticism? Go talk to the whitest of white QBs Rex Grossman. If that doesn't satisfy you, try Eli Manning. And if you're still not satisfied, try David Carr."

There, that's his statement. It's 2007 and from a media perspective QBs, black or white, are under immense pressure.

Now, of course, in Philadelphia that pressure is increased dramatically. We are talking about a city that booed Santa Claus, cheered for Michael Irvin when he was taken off the field on a stretcher, and threw batteries at JD Drew. In my view, the real issue in the past with black quarterbacks was not with the media but instead with the football establishment itself, which harbored seriously racist views towards black QBs. That has changed now, and people like Michael Wilbon et al getting upset with Vince Young for not coming out stronger on this issue are part of the meta-culture that is today's mainstream media.

I don't think it's crazy to suggest there would be calls for Congressional hearings.

Well, you're wrong. Gambling and PED use are actually illegal or potentially illegal activities, so Congress actually has some (albeit weak) reason to be involved. Videotaping an opposing team's sideline is not illegal in the political sense, so Congress has absolutely no reason to be involved.

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.